R.A. Dickey leads Blue Jays to victory over Rays

Waterloo Region Record

Yunel Escobar really knows how to make enemies, although he appears oblivious to this particular talent.

The former Toronto Blue Jays shortstop, whose brief time on the city’s sports scene will be remembered only for the homophobic slur he scrawled into his eyeblack stickers for one game last September, added to his villainous reputation on Monday by goading the Rogers Centre crowd after he hit a ninth-inning homer off Jays closer Casey Janssen.

In the end the dinger mattered little, as Janssen sealed the 7-5 victory three batters later.

But the act was still infuriating for many of the 29,885 in attendance on the holiday afternoon. Now a member of the Tampa Bay Rays, Escobar was loudly booed in each of his at-bats, including in the ninth, when he came to the plate as the potential final out. But instead of grounding out weakly as in his previous three turns, Escobar lined Janssen’s 3-2 offering into the left-field bullpen to cut the Jays’ lead to two.

Escobar then took a languid trot around the bases, and as he crossed home plate he swung out his arms as if he were calling himself safe, an exaggerated gesture not appreciated by the home crowd.

But as he did after the eyeblack incident, Escobar expressed confusion as to why someone might take offence.

“It’s something I do every time I cross home plate,” he said after the game, with Rays reliever Joel Peralta translating.

The last time Escobar homered at the Rogers Centre, on July 28, 2012, he crossed himself — as he always does — but didn’t make the sweeping-safe gesture, according to a video of the play.

“I’m sure that was an emotional moment for him,” Maddon said. “The booing probably promoted the reaction he had. I’m going to talk to him about that tomorrow. I’m certain you’re not going to see that again.”

Janssen, for his part, didn’t take it personally.

“He’s an emotional guy, a prideful guy. It was his moment to shine and he did his thing.”

Escobar, who appears to have a shorter memory than most Toronto fans, seemed bewildered he didn’t receive a hero’s welcome.

“I played really hard, I gave my best here. (The boos) were something that I wasn’t expecting,” he said.

Escobar’s home run was the first Janssen has given up this year, and it punctuated an uncharacteristically rocky performance from the Jays closer, who last pitched May 11. He also walked a batter for the first time and allowed a run for just the second time.

Janssen’s long layoff was not ideal, manager John Gibbons said, but the team is trying to protect his arm against the rigours of a long season. The 31-year-old underwent off-season shoulder surgery and the team continues to exercise caution.

“Probably didn’t feel the best I’ve ever felt today,” Janssen said, admitting he may have been a little rusty. “But I think in the long run (the extra rest) is going to help my arm out.”

R.A. Dickey pitched eight innings for the first time this season, allowing two earned runs on four hits and four walks. While solid contact against his knuckleball was rare on Monday, Dickey continues to be hindered by an uncharacteristic lack of command. He already has walked half as many batters as he did last season in little more than a quarter of the innings.

“The knuckleball can be a very capricious animal,” Dickey said.

Nagging neck and back soreness has limited Dickey’s velocity this year, which he says can partly explain the higher walk rate. The slower the pitch travels to the plate, the more time it has to dart out of the strike zone.

But Dickey is heartened by the progress he continues to make with every outing.

“I felt like I’ve been stuck in a quagmire the last week, two weeks. So it’s nice to feel like you’ve got at least one foot out of it.”